Antiwar.com Newsletter | March 8, 2013

IN THIS ISSUE

• Thank You
• Top News
• Opinion and analysis

This week's top news:

Brennan Confirmed After Rand Paul’s Anti-Drone Filibuster: After it was delayed in a historic filibuster led by Senator Rand Paul that drew unprecedented attention to the administration’s expansive powers in the drone war, the vote count was 63-34. Rand Paul voted against confirmation.

US General Warns Against Sending Weapons to Syria : Speaking to Congress, Centcom Commander General James Mattis warned against plans to arm the assorted rebel factions in Syria, saying that the situation is “too complex” to send weapons and that the US couldn’t count on those weapons not ending up in the hands of US enemies.

Pentagon Ran Torture Centers in Iraq, Atrocities Revealed: “The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the ‘dirty wars’ in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centers to get information from insurgents,” The Guardian reports.

Centcom Chief Rejects Diplomacy, Says Iran Must Be ‘Brought to Its Knees’: Central Command leader Gen. James Mattis insisted sanctions are not successful against Iran, and suggested that diplomacy had been all but useless, insisting that Iran’s “history of deceit” meant they could never be trusted at any rate.

Sequestration: Navy Withdraws Ships From Drug War: The first visible result of sequestration was seen from the US Navy today, with the announcement that they are suspending the deployments of a pair of frigates to the Caribbean as part of a drug war operation.

UNICEF Study: Israel Abuses Palestinian Child Detainees: The report says children are routinely blindfolded, shackled with painful restraints, and face physical violence, death threats, and threats of sexual assault against themselves or a family member.

Opinion and Analysis:

• Justin Raimondo wrote about Rand Paul’s historic anti-drone filibuster, and the Libertarian Republican heritage Part Iand Part II.
• Kelley B. Vlahos interviewed historian Nick Turseon his new book about US atrocities in Vietnam, and notedthe mainstream criticism of COIN doctrine.
• Ivan Eland analyzedDennis Rodman’s visit to the North Korean dictator.
• Phil Giraldi examinedthe Turkish PM’s recent comments on Zionism.
• John Glaser wrote about the Obama administration’s war of choice in Afghanistan, their claimed power to kill US citizens, and their mischievous strategy in Syria.
• Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers arguedthe real aggressor is the US, not North Korea.
• Norman Solomon satirizeda gun background check on the Pentagon.
• The Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed five stories of victims of the drone war, a part of their Naming the Dead project.